


i'll stop the world and melt with you

by parrillapasion



Category: Under The Dome (TV), Under the Dome - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, also a bit timey-wimey oops not even sorry, be prepared for a couple OCs, serious angst, this will get very sci-fi very fast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-03-01 22:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2789405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parrillapasion/pseuds/parrillapasion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post s02 finale. Barbie leads the town's people out of the dome but what about Julia? And what is the true purpose of the dome and the egg? Barbie and Julia will find out the hard way that the powers that be have very dark plans for them. Barbie/Julia all the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. moving forward using all my breath

 

 

 

"All right, people. Let's move!"

Barbie stood there, frozen in place, while Chester's Mill remaining population passed beside him into the white nothingness. He'd led them out alright. The problem was... where? And how the hell was he going to make it back from here? Well, he'd figure something out. They always did. After all there aren't many things in life he was sure of - especially after an alien barrier from the sky had trapped him inside a small Maine town - but he was damn sure that the woman he loved hadn't come back to life twice just to die alone, crushed by the weight of a town that she fought so hard to protect and suffocating by the very same thing she believed was there to protect her.

He swallowed the lump in his throat that had been there since he left her behind. Only a few silhouettes left, entering and being engulfed by blinding light. He blinked away the tears in his eyes trying to focus where he was heading to, but there's nothing to be seen anymore. Would there ever be a something again? For him? For Julia? There was always a chance this wasn’t another portal to the outside world.

While trying to calm down his head and body, an impressively strong cold hand gripped his arm. It was Melanie’s, her cold big blue eyes looking right through him. A chill ran up his spine when it crossed his mind that maybe this wasn’t Melanie.

"The Monarch will fall." Melanie's voice echoed inside his mind. Her lips weren’t moving. Barbie's lips moved but no sound come out. He tried harder but he was certain the yelling was only inside his mind.

What does that mean?!

Then he blinks and she's gone. It's all gone.

-

"I think I can make the jump." Junior said as he approached the cliff’s edge.

"Are you out of your freaking mind?" Julia shot back in disbelief, "You'll never make it."

"I have to try!” Junior shouted. “Once I'm on the other side you jump and I'll catch you."

He gave her a maniac look and Julia took a step back, suddenly more frightened by him than by the prospect of dying alone in a crumbling cave.

"Junior,” she said softly as she was talking to a small child, “My leg is injured. I can't-"

She was cut off by the sound of stone collapsing on itself. The ground beneath her feet shook violently, and she tried to reach forward and grab Junior's hand but it was already too late. Enormous pieces of rock were now falling from the ceiling, swallowing and burying the screaming boy in the hole on the ground. Julia pressed her back against the opposite wall and stared ahead of her completely stunned as the rumbling died down and the dust settled, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"It's almost over." She whispered in order to reassure herself. "The people are safe. Barbie is safe." She took a deep breath and wiped her cheeks with the dirty back of her hands. "No one's gonna die anymore because of the dome or me."

 

Well, no one except her.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh, I hate how short this chapter is but the next one will be longer I promise! I'm posting it sometime today. And much thanks for the lovely Émilie (rachellelefevrearmy) for being my beta <3 
> 
> Btw I'm warning you, this will be a long, painful ride, buckle up!


	2. I melt with you

 

 

When the ground had opened between them she knew it was over for her. But she pretended to believe there was still a chance so he would believe it as well. So he would keep going. Of course she had no doubt he would come back for her, but come back to what exactly? Chester's Mill was minutes away of extinction. Remaining population: 1.

Julia forced her eyes open and what she saw drew a gasp out of her. Debris had fallen on the gap covering it completely and making a way to the other side. The sight of it made her get up from the floor with renewed strength. _I'm not dying in here._

After a few minutes walk though, Julia arrived in closed stone gallery. A dead end. She sank to the floor completely defeated, her anguish slowly climbing up her throat and threatening to consume her whole being. It was then that a sparkle of life lit up in her thoughts and lifted all her worries. There was no more pain. No more cold. No more darkness. There might not even be a Julia anymore; her conscience was detached completely from any sense of being. However her mind managed to conjure one last coherent thought, as her head was on it's way to the cold hard floor: _He is safe._

-

Dale Barbara ran through the cave's tunnels as fast as he could, Melanie's words echoing repeatedly in his mind. _The Monarch will fall_. Was Julia going to fall inside the hole in the ground where he'd left her? Or it meant she was no longer the chosen one, whatever being chosen by an alien egg meant anyway. His eyes burned and it was getting harder to breath because of the dust he was dispersing with his running but he didn't care. She had to be okay. He needed her to be okay.

He had to stop abruptly, before he ran into the stone wall in front of him. He shone his flashlight from top to bottom but all that it wasn't darkness was simply stone. He was at a dead end, and not just any dead end. It was the same stone gallery he had been just minutes ago, the very same one that had closed in his face and denied him entrance. How was it possible to end up in the same place you walked away from? But then again, how was it possible for a town to be cut off from the rest of the world by an invisible, impenetrable fishbowl? Anger flashed through his body like thunder and he threw the flashlight across the room, watching it while it exploded against the stone wall. The whole place lit up for a fraction of a second and then swallowed by darkness again.

Barbie's blood ran cold as he turned to the farthest corner of the cave. A fraction of a second had been more than enough to spot a body lying on the stone floor. Walking carefully towards it, he crouched until he was on all fours. He reached a hand forward and his fingertips touched soft wild curls.

"Julia?" With his heart in his throat he extended his other hand while sitting down and positioning the woman's head on his lap. "Baby, please."

His fingers found her neck and he held his breath until he could feel the blood being pumped through her body. It was faint but it was there. He cradled her in his arms, sinking his face in her hair and rocking their bodies gently.

"I'm sorry, baby," he cried, "I'm so so sorry."

"Barbie?" she asks weakly.

"Hey, hey," he murmured, holding her tightly in the dark. "I'm here, I'm here,"

"You found me." Although he couldn't see her face, he knew she was smiling.

"Of course I did, baby." Despite himself, he was smiling too. "We're gonna be okay"

"No we are not, " he could feel her shaking her head and his heart sank. "Not unless we find the egg. It's calling for me, I can feel it, we have to protect it."

"Julia, baby, I'm more worried about you right now..."

"The longer I stay apart from it, the weaker it makes me!"

He pressed his head again on her neck and breathed into her skin, "Then tell me what do," he pleaded, "because I don't know."

"Believe, Barbie." He heard her words but like with Melanie, it felt like she was saying it inside his head. "Believe you can save us all."

Taking a deep breath he raised his head and looked up. He was inches away from the stone wall and painted on it, was a glowing white hand print. The glow was enough so he could see Julia's face. Her eyes were closed and she was completely still, but her voice rang through his mind.

_Believe._

Barbie disentangled his right hand from Julia's hair and touched the wall, right above the glowing palm. At his touch, the light expanded from under his hand and swallowed the whole room. He looked down, underneath Julia but there was no more floor, only light. They were floating in space with the light slowly flooding his body, and his mind melted into nothingness a voice echoed in the distance.

_Protect it._

-

Dale Barbara blinked several times as he tried to adjust to the sudden brightness. The sky above him was ablaze with fiery colors and the sun was already dipping behind the horizon. He felt something scratchy underneath him and tried to sit up, immediately regretting this decision as the world seemed to shift around him, making him want to throw up. He took several calming breaths as the world straightened itself in it's axis, and as he sucked in the air, the memories flooded his brain. _Julia._

"Julia!" He yelled at no specific direction as he got up from the floor, noticing for the first time he was lying on broken corn stalks and around him all he could see were miles and miles of crop fields.

"Julia!" He pushed the crops aside with both his hands as he stumbled and trailed away from the cornfield, the crops becoming few and sparser behind him. He finally spotted her lying on her side, as if she was only taking a nap, and promptly kneeled at her side. He caressed her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face and her eyes fluttered open.

"You did it," she said faintly. He sighed in relief and brought one of her hands to his lips, pressing several kisses to her skin. "We're closer to it, I can feel it." Barbie nodded and brought her body closer to his, holding her in his arms against his chest.

"I'm just glad you're feeling better," he breathed as he kissed her lightly on the lips. "How's your leg," he asked, concerned, "Do you think you can walk?"

"A little maybe. Where are we?" Before he could say he had no clue, they heard the sound of corn stalks breaking beneath someone's feet, and a tall figure of a woman appeared in their line of vision.

"You're in my farm. And you are trespassing."

 

 

  
  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Tbc...


	3. the only girl I loved was stolen and drowned deep inside of me.

 

 

 

The tall blond woman in front of him was saying something but he wasn't paying attention. He was just staring. At her face, her lips, her eyes, the way she held herself. She was probably in her late twenties, and her porcelain skin was reddish from sunburn. She had both her hands on her hips as her icy blue eyes seemed to be studying him as well. She was so familiar to him, yet he couldn't quite place her.

"Hey, mister!" The woman shouted, breaking his line of thought. "Your lady friend's not looking too hot" she said, her eyes fixed on Julia, "My car's a two minute walk from here."

"Yeah, okay." It was all Barbie could manage as the stranger helped him get Julia on her feet. He put her left arm around his shoulder and held her waist high. The girl did the same on Julia's right side and they walked together to her truck, parked a few feet away. Opening the back door, Barbie helped Julia get into the vehicle and followed suit, wrapping his arms around her torso while she laid on his chest, curled up on the fetal position.

The girl got into the driver's seat and before shifting gears turned into Barbies direction, "It seems I forgot my manners on the crops," she wiped her hand on her jeans and extended in his direction. "I'm Madeleine Smith, but people just call me Mads."

Barbie took her hand, "I'm Barbie, and this is Julia," he answered still a bit perplexed. The odd thing was, he already felt like trusting this stranger completely.

"Where are we?" The girl started the engine, driving towards a couple constructions ahead.

"Welcome to Queen's Meadow, my parents estate," she answered brightly, "of course, they are 74 years old now, so I'm the one running things."

"You seem too young to be worrying about anything other than yourself," he snickered. She shot him a piercing look through the rear-view mirror and before he could apologize for offending the person who had literally saved their lives she smiled broadly.

"That's exactly what my father says." She glanced at him still smiling, "But anyway I'm older than I look, okay?" She chuckled and turned back to the road ahead, "Mister, have we met before? 'Cause I have this strange feeling-"

"Please," he interrupted, "call me Barbie."

Julia stirred in his lap, "Barbie?" she asked, her words were starting to slur, "have we found it yet?" 

"Were you guys out on the fields for long, 'cause she seems pretty out of it, probably from dehydration," Mads asked, concerned.

He smoothed his hand over Julia's forehead, "To be honest you, she's been through so much these past few days," his gaze shifted to the rear-view mirror as the memories of almost losing Julia shifted in his mental screen, "I don't think some dehydration could do this"

"Well," Mads said bringing the car to a stop, "You're here now, and we're gonna take care of you."

-

With Julia secured in his arms, they entered a big yet very modest wooden house. There wasn't a lot of furniture laid out, and the floorboards creaked under they footsteps. Unlike the lack of coziness of the place, there were beautiful canvases covering all walls. Oil paintings, drawings, and a few sketches, all of the same thing; a red-headed boy. Apart from the paintings depicting various stages of the boy's life, the house seemed empty and untouched as if it had been a long time since anyone lived there.

"How long have you lived here?" Barbie asked giving furtive glances to the pairs of blue eyes staring at him from the walls.

"Since 1988," the girl replied, leading Barbie through a bedroom at the back of the house. "We used to move a lot before that," Mads motioned to the bed in the center of the room and Barbie carefully lowered Julia onto it. "But after that year we moved here and haven't been anywhere else since then."

"Barbie?" Julia asked sticking her hand in the air as if looking for him.

"Right here, baby." Barbie took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"It hurts..." she whispered.

"I'm gonna get the medical kit," Mads was the one to answer. She left the room hurriedly.

He leaned into Julia and kissed her forehead lightly. She placed her free hand on his cheek and gazed into his eyes.

"It hurts being away from it," she said almost inaudibly. Her eyes closed and her arms went limp as her body shut down to the outside world. Barbie sighed and swallowed hard, he was still trying to figure out how to steal a heavy surveilled alien artifact.

Mads then entered the room with the medical kit and some folded clothes and towels.

"These are mine," she said placing the clothes on the bed, "so I'm sure it will fit her, we're almost the same size. There are also some of my dad's shirts if you want, don't worry I’m sure he won't mind."

"Thank you. I sure like to meet your folks... Thank them for taking us in."

"Oh, yeah," the girl smiled, "but maybe after you guys got some rest. You sure need it after I imagine was one hell of a freaky trip."

"Excuse me?" Barbie asked, unsure of what she was talking about.

"I mean, I knew you looked familiar, and at first I couldn't place you but, you guys were inside the dome weren't you? The news shows your face on a loop saying you're the last ones missing..."

"They found the others?" Surprised, he got up from the bed.

"Yep, they all showed up in Zenith," Mads answered. "Biggest event in human history, I mean, after the dome that is. Two hundred people just popping around town out of nowhere, totally mind-blowing." She made a gesture of her mind exploding. "But if you guys popped up here in Nadir that must mean you came through a different wormhole..."

"Sorry, a what?" The plainness in which she was saying all of that was pissing off Barbie.

"They were saying it on TV. Wormholes are tunnel-like connections made out of spacetime, offering a shorter distance between two separate areas of the universe,” the words left her mouth like she’d said them a thousand times. “I heard they are already making two movies and a tv show about it," she rolled her eyes. "And... There's a reward for any information that might lead to you two..."

Now that really got Barbie worrying.

"Mads, look-" She waved her hands dismissively, interrupting him.

"Y'know, since my parents moved here, we've had a lot of visitors... Drifters that they would take in. They dedicated their lives helping others, especially... Especially after they stopped looking for my brother." She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "If you wanted to be found, you would have asked for a phone before I could finish saying Queen's Meadow," she let out a breathy laugh. "Don't worry, we don't want their money." Relief washed over him as he nodded his head in gratitude. "Now rest, I'll let you know when dinners ready." Mads gave his shoulder another tap and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Barbie sighed heavily, the newly acquired information swirling in his head. However, deciding he had more pressing matters to tend to, he entered the room's ensuite bathroom, and washed his hands thoroughly. He picked up a metal bowl from under the sink and filled it with water. Reentering the bedroom, he placed the bowl, the medical kit, and some clean clothes on the bedside table.

Exhaustion had finally taken Julia and she was asleep on the bed. He hoped she would stay that way at least for a while so she wouldn't feel any pain. Barbie dipped a cloth on the water and rinsed her face of the dried blood and dirt. He also cleaned around the gash on her forehead and split lip. If he'd had the time, he would've come back to put a bullet in Big Jim's chest. His only consolation was believing his own son had done that to him.

_At least she won't need stitches_ , he thought.

He ripped open a few alcohol swab pads and put them on the wounds, checking to see they had stopped bleeding. Applying a thin layer of antibiotic to her head and lip, he covered her head lac with a bandage but let the lip wound uncovered. He got up from the bed and removed her tank top to see that the wound on her shoulder was healing surprisingly fast. Among the clothes Mads had brought him, he found a nightgown which he carefully dressed Julia in. He also removed her jeans, and changed the dressing on her leg.

Finally, Barbie gathered the used utensils and threw them away, rinsing the metal bowl and putting it back where he found it. He looked in the mirror and considered taking a shower, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving Julia alone, not when she wasn't acting like herself. He settled instead for cleaning up as much as he could on the bathroom sink, and changed into one of Mad's father clean shirts. Walking up to the bed, he pulled the comforter and sheets from under Julia's body and laid down next to her, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

 

 

 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you like this so far? Next chapter in a week!


	4. stay with me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short update but I needed to get the story forward. Hope you're enjoying it!

 

 

_Her delicate fingers traced patterns up his chest, slowly bringing him back to reality. His eyes were still heavy with sleep so keeping them shut, he rolled over on his back, and tightly adjusted the arm that woke him around his torso. At the change of position, she immediately pressed her body against his and hooked one leg over his waist, eliciting a moan from both of them. One of his hands settled on her butt, squeezing firmly, and the other caressed her back, as he buried his face in her neck. He kissed her collar bone, the base of her neck, and trailed up, kissing her jaw and stopping to nibble on her earlobe. This rewarded him with a laugh so deep it was almost indecent, it vibrated from her chest to his, sending chills all over his body._

_"God, I love you," he groaned and she let out another soft laugh, placing wet kisses on his skin all the way down to his stomach._

_She settled between his legs as he cupped her face in his hands, making her look up at him. She was smiling broadly but there were tears in her eyes._

_"I'm... leaving."_

-

Barbie woke up with a jolt, groping the sheets next to him hoping to find her, but the bed was empty. Heart racing, he jumped from the bed and ran for the bedroom door.

_"You made those paintings, didn't you?"_

Into the corridor he heard voices coming from the kitchen.

_" ... I dream about him everynight."_

Stopping at the threshold he spotted Julia and Mads talking at the kitchen table. Relief washed over him and he leaned on the doorway to catch his breath. Julia still looked achingly sick and pale, but she was here. And awake. But Mads looked...

_"Sometimes he's just a young boy, but sometimes he's about my age."_

Seeing the two women together, his heart skipped a beat once more.

_"What happened to your brother?"_

Mads looked like a blond Julia. Their ressemblece was uncanny. He looked at Julia trying to see if she was at all affected by this but aside from looking engrossed on the conversation she just seemed immensely tired.

_"My parents said he was taken when he was five years old."_

Barbie entered the kitchen. "Where are your parents, by the way?" His tone was somewhat harsher than he'd intended.

"Left first thing in the morning, mom had a doctor's appointment," Mads replied startled.

He looked at Julia but she seemed to have zoomed out, like she'd gone back to sleep only her eyes were still open.

"There is something wrong with Julia," he said angrily, "and I think you know more than you're letting on."

"I don't know what are you talking about," Mads answered firmly as he stepped forward, towering Mads. 

"Barbie," Julia grabbed his arm, "why don't you sit with us." She seemed oblivious to their prior exchange. "We saved you some eggs." He simply stared at her, deeply worried. She then turned to Mads. "I hope you find your brother."

Mads smiled sadly, "It would take a miracle, but I don't think... No, not in this lifetime."

Julia took Mads' hand in hers in reassurance.

It was enough to send her thrashing to the floor.

-

"Oh my god," Mads whispered to herself, frozen in shock. 

"The Monarch will fall," said Julia as she convulsed violently. 

Barbie was by her side instantly, helding her head gently so it wouldn't hit the floor. 

"You have to do something!" Mads yelled in panic while kneeling beside Julia and trying to hold her down. 

"You have to give her space!" Barbie pushed her away with one hand, the other still holding Julia's head above ground. "Go get her a pillow." But the girl simply stared at him. "Now!"

Mads got up and left the room hurriedly.

"Baby, please, stay with me." Barbie caressed her forehead, "just stay with me. I need you," he whispered. "Shh, I'm gonna fix this." Slowly her body started to calm down. "I promise. We're gonna be okay."

Mads came back in to the room clutching a cushion to her chest. Julia was now laying on her side peacefully.  Barbie motioned for Mads and she helped him pick her up from the floor. 

"What the hell was that?" Mads inquired as Barbie walked back to their room carrying Julia in his arms. 

He placed her on the bed and checked her pulse. She had gone back to her previous dormant state. Barbie sighed heavily, bringing Julia's hand to his lips. 

"I don't understand... We were just talking..." Hearing Mads' voice behind him, he kissed Julia on the forehead and got up from the bed. 

"Can I trust her with you?" Barbie asked as he started gathering his things.

 "Where are you going?" 

"I think there's only one thing that can help her," he said, "and that thing is down in a military basement in Zenith."

Mads searched her pockets and placed her keys in his hand, "take my car."

"Thanks." He headed for the door, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "You'd tell me if-"

"You can, y'know," she cut him off, "trust me, I mean. Just go do your thing, and let us do ours. Okay?"

He nodded, glanced at Julia one more time, and left. 

It was the last time Mads would see Barbie. But the same wasn't true for him. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the dream scene was mainly bc of my need for some Jarbie loving. sorrynotsorry


	5. The future's open wide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, holidays are over, I'm back at work and everything is just crazy! Thank you halliwelldream for helping me, you rock!

 

_The dome has gone down, Aktaion Energy was forced out of the picture, the military has taken over. And instead of treating us like survivors of a freak accident, we've been treated like outlaws. We've been interrogated and we've been under heavy surveillance. The only reason this website hasn't shut down yet is thanks to you—Hounds all over the world who have donated. We have managed to move our HQ to a safer location. And we continue hunting because the mystery remains. But why does the military seems to believe us domers have anything to do with it? It all goes back to the power source—domers call it 'the egg'—that Aktaion was trying to conceal from the military. With the dome gone, the egg might be the only thing that can explain why and how Chester's Mill was cut off from the world for nearly three weeks. The problem is, the possible key to the egg, aka The Mill's Queen and King Julia Shumway and Dale Barbara are still missing. So if you spot any of them, don't take pictures, don't even tweet about it, please contact us. We have safe means to protect them, because once they are in the wrong hands, we might never get the whole #DomeTruth._

_We are the houndsofdiana. Because we all deserve to know._

_We hunt with you. Stay true. And stay tuned…_

_—_

Hunter May hit 'Publish' to his newest blog entry and got up from to refill his cup of coffee. The TV was broadcasting yet another interview of a domer recollecting her experiences. It was amazing how a story could change so much when it was told over and over again. Many of the people who had gotten out with him were telling the media they had seen UFO's, green creatures from outer space, and all the things you'd expect from a Doctor Who episode. He had also received invitations for interviews but he never accepted. Being "interviewed" constantly by the military was enough.

Back on his desk, he saw a new email had arrived.

 

_> To: dromas_

_> Subject: It's me_

_> I need to talk to you asap._

_> Is this connection safe?_

_> Where can we meet?_

 

Finally, after four days he might have some clues to Barbie's whereabouts, but was it really him? Hunter wrote a reply:

 

_> To: dbb79_

_> Subject: Re: It's me_

_> We can meet in my new place, it's safe._

_> I'll give you the address but first how can I know it's really you?_

 

_> To: dromas_

_> Subject: Re: Re: It's me_

_> You'll know it when you try to pick up your teeth with your broken fingers._

 

Hunter was definitely convinced it was Barbie, so he emailed his address and called Joe and Norrie. They would definitely want to be here for this.

 

—

 

Barbie buzzed the intercom of Hunter's place and waved in no particular direction, knowing he could be seen. A minute later, the door opened, but before he could take in his surroundings, someone was hugging him.

"Barbie!" He heard Joe shout as the boy approached him.

He felt a blow to his arm, "hey!" Norrie had let him go and was staring angrily at him. Her eyes were glassy and he could feel his shirt was damp from her tears.

"We thought you died!" Norrie cried, looking like she was ready to punch him again.

"Great to see you too, Norrie."

"We spent two days going through the city's CCTV hoping to find you," Joe said.

"Yeah, well, we turned up an hour from here. In a small rural town." Barbie saw Hunter across the room, he seemed to be trying to keep some distance between them. "I came in peace." Hunter looked relieved.

"Where's Melanie, by the way? Do you know if she's with my father?" Barbie asked, and they all looked at each other anxiously. "She didn't make it, did she?" Barbie sat on the nearest couch and held his head on his hands.

"We don't know," Hunter spoke, seeing Joe and Norrie couldn't. "We looked for her too."

"Maybe she turned up somewhere else..." Joe tried.

"I've got a different theory." His fist had curled into a ball and his voice was low and tight.

Several minutes passed until Norrie broke the silence, "Where's Julia?"

Barbie lifted his head and she saw his eyes were very red, "That's what I need your help with."

 

—

 

"So, let me see if I got this straight. You want to break in a military base, steal the heavily guarded alien egg, go back to Nadir with it, and somehow make it stop messing with Julia."

"Yeah," Barbie nodded. "I believe... Wait. Nadir?"

"You said you left her in a rural town an hour from here?" Hunter asked. "It's got be Nadir."

"Yes. You guys remember how Melanie got sick and she said they were doing something to the egg? I believe the same thing is happening to Julia now." Barbie got up from the couch and paced around the room. "I think they are connected somehow. And I think it was on purpose, the egg wants to be rescued. They want the Monarch to protect it."

"There's a  _they_  now?" Norried murmured as if saying it out loud could make things appear out of thin air.

"I think there always was..."

"Do you think—" Joe tried asking the best way he could. "What do you think happened to Melanie?"

Barbie sighed, "It's like... They brought her back to keep the egg safe. But once they decided to kick us out of the dome," Barbie finished angrily, "she no longer served a purpose." Norried sobbed and Joe held her hand.

"So, what's Julia's purpose?" Hunter asked.

Barbie sat down feeling completely drained. The dome had given him so much, but now it was taking it all back. The thought that everything had been orchestrated to serve someone else's agenda made him sick. And he couldn't even bring himself to wish it hadn't happen, because he still preferred this to never even getting to know them. He just wished they'd be left alone soon, that they could go on with their lives, so he could keep the promises he'd made her that night in the ambulance.

"I don't know. But I'm sure as hell I'm figuring it out."


End file.
